Resident Evil 4

Widely considered one of the greatest games of the last decade, Resident Evil 4 makes its way to the iDevice with its core gameplay intact, even if the overall experience is seriously abridged. More of a “greatest hits” collection of action sequences than an adventure game, the story mode has been split up into 12 short missions that are inspired by the console title.

These missions will take you to different locations you’ll recognize if you’ve played RE4 before, fighting familiar enemies like El Gigante and other clawed nightmares. You’ll also have to face down chainsaws, catapults and pitchforks.

This isn’t a problem though, because the game controls beautifully, at least by RE4 standards. The virtual analog stick isn’t quite as nice as a real one when aiming at enemies, but it’s still easy to pop an infected in the head, run up, and roundhouse kick him in the face. If you’ve played Resident Evil: Degeneration, you’ll have an idea of what to expect here, but everything is much faster and less cumbersome than in that title.

Hey neighbor, have you come to help us cut down firewood?

A context-sensitive button will appear for picking up items, kicking people and propping up ladders, making it simple to interact with the environment. During escort missions, Ashley (the girl you’re trying to save) can be told to follow you or stay put, and she still ducks out of the line of fire like in the console versions.

The missions here only take about 15 minutes to beat, but the difficulty is high enough that many will take you quite a few tries. Luckily, the mysterious item-shop man makes an appearance before every mission, and you can upgrade your guns, body armor and ammunition stocks if you get stuck. There are plenty of options for upgrading your weapons, and even your carrying case can be upgraded a few times to hold more items, like in the original.

Between missions, the story is told through slides using screenshots from the console games and poorly translated text. Unfortunately, the story mode is completely unfinished. It’s like Capcom adapted some of the best scenes from the first two thirds of the game, got tired of it all and then called it a day.

This isn’t a huge loss; there are so many gaps in the story as it’s presented that it won’t make sense unless you’ve played the original anyway. That said, it still reeks of laziness, and it raises a larger concern: is Capcom going to try and charge us for the rest of the story later?

Welcome to the Fraternal Order of the Exploding Barrel.

Although the story mode is incomplete, a separate mercenaries mode is also available. There are 24 missions in this mode, and the goal is usually to kill the most enemies within a few minutes for a high score, using environments ripped from story mode. Sometimes, you’ll also have to escort Ashley or defeat some boss characters. These missions are fun, although with no rankings or leaderboards of any kind there’s nothing to compare your score against, which isn’t very satisfying.

Luckily, the score you earn in mercenaries mode directly translates into cash in story mode, so if you get stuck (and you will) you can play a few mercenaries missions and power up your character. You’ll need to switch between the two modes, because new mercenaries missions are unlocked by progressing in the story. Once you beat story mode, you’ll be able to play through it again with all your items and cash on a harder difficulty.

Overall, Resident Evil 4 is a blast to play. The controls have been faithfully translated from the console titles, and most of the action thrills are intact. The music and sound effects have been carried over, and the graphics get the job done with a great draw distance and smooth framerate.

Despite the incomplete story mode, this is unrivaled as an iDevice 3D action shooter, and the 15 minute missions are perfectly suited for mobile play. If you’re a fan of RE4 or action games in general, set your sights here.

Just weeks after a Japanese gameplay video of Resident Evil 4 for the iPhone ended up on the Internet, the full iPhone version of Resident Evil 4 is now available to buy for $7.99.

While this doesn’t appear to be the full console game, it is a port that uses an engine very similar to the one we wrestled with in Resident Evil: Degeneration. Tricky controls or no, this is a setting that most gamers have extremely fond memories of, as Resident Evil 4, with its all-too-human villager zombies and beastly, flesh-rending monsters, is a fan favorite.

We’ll have more on Resident Evil 4, including video and a review, just as soon as we can.

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Heroes of Loot 2 is an update to the original that brings even more to love of the original. This time around the player chooses two player types to take into the dungeon, switching between them in the game as needed.

Heroes of Loot 2 is 50% off right now for launch.

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Pick two heroes to take into the adventure, controlling both heroes and using their special skills to navigate the dangerous castle hallways, rooms and floors. Switching between the two characters to solve quests, puzzles, and of course clear the dungeons of all evil.

Human Resources Corporation, from some of the same fine folks that brought us World of Goo is a puzzle games that makes some of the basics of programming into a fun little exercise.

The premise is that the player is a new recruit in a corporation that need to tell other in game characters how to move and act by giving a set of program commands to complete tasks. It’s a great introduction to the logic used in programming and a fun little game with great personality. Which is expected considering the team that created this.

Temple Run 2 has done it again. Expanded into a whole new world with the Blazing Sands expansion. Available now in the game.

Touch Arcade notes:

It’s called “Blazing Sands,” and as you can see from the above trailer, you’ll be running through canyons along side raging rapids and Egyptian-y looking statues while marauding vines are smacking you in the face… Which really isn’t much of a surprise as vines in video games seem to be jerks almost 100% of the time. Of course there’s new stuff to unlock too between new outfits and Blazing Sands artifacts. If you collect ’em all, you’ll even get a swanky new hat.

From Martin Magni, the developer of the great Odd Bot Out, Mekorama hit the App Store this week. This charming puzzle game has the player guide a robot through a series of very unique 3D puzzles. The puzzles have shades of Monument Valley without the Escher inspired vibe.

One of the features that really sets this game apart from others is the integrated level editor. This lets players create their own levels and share them via a simple QR code integrated image. Take a look at the new levels shared on Twitter with the #Mekorama hashtag. I’ve even created one to test the path finding skills of that little robot.

Mekorama is free in the App Store with a pay what you want price model.

There have been a lot of games that have aped the style of Monument Valley, but not that have really gotten the idea and complexity of the game. That is until Evo Explores. Evo Explores really understand the game and does a great job of adding puzzle types to the original that it unashamedly takes inspiration from. It’s so good that members of the Monument Valley team have remarked how impressed they are.

But beside that, the game can stand on its own as well. It’s a great suspension of belief type puzzler with new and interesting mechanics and is just plain fun. The story that goes along is a little weak, but then again that’s just a small part of the game. Well worth a download.

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